Recent Articles

Affordable Care Act Saved Medicare Recipients Billions on Prescription Drugs in 2011

February 14, 2012 19:16

The Obama administration reported that in 2011, the first full year of the new healthcare reform law, 3.6 million people in the Medicare program saved $2.1 billion on prescription drugs. According to Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, eventually healthcare reform will...

Michigan Supreme Court Decision in Jilek v Stockson a Win for Healthcare Providers

January 09, 2012 14:54

The Michigan Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in Jilek v Stockson, and it is a victory for healthcare providers. The Supreme Court summarily reversed the Court of Appeal’s holding that the applicable standard of care for a physician board-certified in family practice...

Michigan Denied Health Law Waiver by Federal Regulators

December 21, 2011 20:02

In August, we reported that Michigan had submitted an application to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting a waiver of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) medical loss ratio requirements for its individual health insurance, claiming that without a phase-in to the medical loss...

Michigan Court of Appeals Holds Physician Cannot Refuse to Provide IVF Treatment to a Woman Solely Based on the Woman's Marital Status

October 24, 2011 20:39

In an unpublished opinion on September 29, 2011, the Michigan Court of Appeals found that a physician cannot refuse to enter into a physician-patient relationship with a single woman seeking in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment because the woman is single. In Moon v. Michigan Reproductive &...

18 Detroit Individuals Charged with Fraudulently Billing $28 Million in Medicare Schemes

September 22, 2011 18:53

The Obama Administration has brought charges against 91 people nationwide who are accused of fraudulently billing the Medicare system out of nearly $300 million. Among those accused, 18 people have been indicted by federal investigators in the Detroit area. The Detroit defendants have been charged...

Michigan Court of Appeals Case Rules Medical Marihuana Dispensaries and Patient-to-Patient Sale Violates the Public Health Code

August 30, 2011 13:45

On August 23, 2011, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the patient-to-patient sale of medical marihuana is an enjoinable public nuisance,  meaning that the State can discontinue the activity due to its negative effects on the surrounding community, and that the operation of medical...

Michigan Requests Health Law Waiver

August 09, 2011 18:44

On July 28, 2011, Michigan submitted an application to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting a waiver of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) medical loss ratio requirements for its individual health insurance. Many insurance companies spend a portion of consumers' premiums on...

Sebelius Unveils Rules For State Health Exchanges

July 19, 2011 15:22

On July 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The first proposed rule, the Exchange NPRM, will enable States to build Affordable Insurance Exchanges (AIE). AIEs are new State-based competitive insurance marketplaces...

Sixth Circuit Court Finds Healthcare Reform's Individual Mandate Constitutional

July 05, 2011 17:40

On June 29, 2011, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a key part of the healthcare reform law - the requirement that Americans purchase health insurance. This provision of the healthcare reform law, also known as the...

Department of Justice Asks Court To Dismiss Michigan Challenge Of Health Care Law

June 03, 2011 17:48

The Thomas More Law Center filed a federal lawsuit in 2010 against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Law Center is challenging the Act's constitutionality in an effort to permanently prohibit enforcement of the Act On May 27, 2011, the Justice Department requested that the court...